Fairtrade Producers Speak about Climate Change

30 November 2010

While world leaders are meeting at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 16) to discuss global climate change, the rest of the world is dealing with the impact. Following are a few quotes from Fairtrade producers about the impact climate change has on their land, families and communities.

“We have planted trees and reduced the amount of pesticides we use by 80 percent in the last ten years. We’ve used the Fairtrade premium to buy environmentally friendly ovens to dry our coffee. These are powered by coffee skins and macadamia nut shells, which mean we no longer need to cut up to 50 acres of forest every year."

-Gerardo Arias Camacho, Coffee Farmer and Member of the Llano Bonito (COOCAFE) Cooperative in Costa Rica

"We used to have much more rainfall than we are having now, that’s one big change, and to me this area is hotter than 20 years ago. Because of the shortened rains you have to go for early maturing varieties and now people are trying to select these. That’s why some local varieties of pumpkins and cassava that need a lot of rain, even varieties of beans, have disappeared."

-Baluku Yofesi, Executive Director of the Karughe Farmers Partnership in Kasese district of Western Uganda

“Fair trade producers don’t want charity: rather, they would like recognition for their achievements in sustainable production, and would like to see that their efforts to adapt to climatic variability and economic uncertainty are adequately supported in the ways that they see fit. Each producer, and each producer organization is unique, and a ‘one size fits all’ approach will not do"